been tucked away in Mafikeng, South Africa.)
"When we asked for independence,"
Botswana's current president, Quett K. J.
Masire, likes to say, "people thought we were
either very brave or very foolish."
They may have been both, but it is clear, a
quarter century later, that despite the long
odds, Botswana works. In fact the nation's
early success often obscures its future prob
lems. Botswana's 1.3-million population is
growing at 3.4 percent a year-among the
highest in the world. Left unchecked, it will
double in 20 years. More than 100,000 are
unemployed. An additional 20,000 enter the
labor force each year. Yet skilled labor and
managerial talent are in such short supply that
large numbers of both must be imported. Even
its five-member supreme court is composed
entirely of foreigners. While per capita income
has risen from almost nothing to $1,600 a year,
income distribution figures tell a different
story: The poorest half of the population re
ceives little more than one-sixth of the nation's
total earnings; the wealthiest 20 percent take
Botswana, the Adopted Land